Focus of second-stage housing shifts to Lindsay

Amy’s Next Step Housing in Fenelon Falls has been an important part of our services for many years. The eight-unit complex offered women with or without children a safe, affordable place to live for a year or more as they rebuilt their lives after leaving an abuser. Although we’ve sold the building to Kawartha-Lakes Haliburton Housing — it will be used as affordable housing for lower-income residents of the village, and may be developed more in future — we haven’t wavered in our commitment to help women as they work to create new lives free of fear.

Although Amy’s played an important part in our system of supporting abused women in many different ways, and lovely as Fenelon Falls is, there were disadvantages to the location that caused real problems for the women using the units. “We’ve been happy to have Amy’s to house our second-stage program for many, many years. However, with no central transportation system in the city of Kawartha Lakes, it is very difficult for some women who need to access Lindsay for things like family court, legal appointments, medical appointments and of course the hospital,” said executive director Lori Watson in a recent audio post on our Facebook page.

The sale of the building benefits everyone involved. There will be more affordable housing in a community that desperately needs it, and Women’s Resources gains cash it can use toward the creation of a more centrally located facility. “We’re hoping to relocate our second-stage program to Lindsay where it will be closer to our shelter and counselling services and to all the other services,” Watson said.

She acknowledged the frustrations of those who feel too many social services are “Lindsay-centric,” adding, “We are committed to providing a range of services and supports to abused women and their kids throughout Kawartha Lakes.”

The fact remains that driving back and forth from Fenelon to Lindsay isn’t possible for many of the women who need continued support after either leaving our shelter in Lindsay or as a stopgap before they move into their own place. “The reality is that for people on fixed to no income, with no mode of transportation, it can be a real challenge.”

Women’s Resources is already on the lookout for suitable property in Lindsay. And in the meantime, of course, we’re still here for those who need us. Lori Watson went on to say “We will continue to provide our services throughout the city of Kawartha Lakes to women and kids through our outreach programs and our transition support program, and of course we always have our crisis phone line.”

By Nancy Payne